Les Rotondes et La Buvette

Last Saturday I met with other sketchers for a sketchcrawl organised by LUCA at La Buvette, the pub at Rotondes in Bonnevoie.

The Rotondes used to be buildings where trains were repaired and stored. They were repurposed a few years ago and have now become this trendy place where various cultural events take place, such as exhibitions, concerts, plays, etc.

Unlike so many places in Luxembourg it is not overly clean and organised. I love the occasional messiness of the place.

Undeterred by the cold, we started out on the outside, where the food truck is. I couldn't resist sketching the trailer and the many seemingly randomly placed cables with their colourful lightbulbs. I'll have to add some colour to this sketch sometime.

Spot the sketcher

I have to say we were quite the troopers out there. The day was pleasant but pretty cold. At some point my hands turned a shade of purple. It got so bad that I didn't even feel the heat emanating from the glass of mulled wine I was holding.

Luckily, the inside of the Rotondes is just as interesting as the outside, and we warmed ourselves up at La Buvette. The servers are very friendly and we enjoyed the cosy afternoon atmosphere.

Isabelle is one of the latest sketchers joining our group

I'll have to go back when the weather is nicer. These round shaped buildings are so interesting, they deserve more attention.

Holiday in Portugal - family gatherings and lots of food

Even before my arrival, my holiday promised to be busier than my work schedule, full with lunches, dinners and other social events with the extended family. It's far from a complaint. I love to spend time with my aunts, uncles and cousins.

I would also love to be able to sketch them all. But since they are a pretty lively bunch they won't stop quiet for me to do so.

It usually goes something like this:

My aunt Lucinda is very conveniently sitting next to me, so I take out my sketchbook and pen, and discreetly start sketching her. Maybe it is because I only see her so often, but somehow I always forget that she is one of the people with most facial expressions per second I know. 

She complained that I made her look old

So, obviously, the result is inconclusive. It does, however, attract my aunt Maria's attention who requests that I make a portrait of her next. A very willing subject, she manages to hold still for the 10 minutes I need to sketch her. Hurray! 

Great model and amazing cook!

The dog is resting, perfect subject to sketch next. Alas! I barely have the time to start on the head that he changes position. As if he knew what I was up to, he keeps moving and changing position. Even the dog won't cooperate when he is resting!

Rex, the restless dog

So when animated subjects are this taxing, what do you do? Focus your attention on the other usual suspect at the table: the watermelon, a much more cooperative subject if you don't wait too long. In the blink on an eye it is half gone! 

Can't blame anyone for wanting some of this delicious watermelon

It is so much more relaxing to sketch inanimate objects At least they won't run away. Or will they?

I won this one at a raffle

Holiday in Portugal - long way home

As pretty much every year, I went on summer holiday to Portugal, where part of my family is and my parents have a house.

Like most Luso-descendants, I have a great love for Portugal. I always look forward to spending some time in this beautiful country and discovering a bit more of my roots.

Unlike my parents, I have given up driving the 2000 km to get there already a few years ago and prefer to take the plane. It's far less tiring and less of a hassle.

There are, however, unforseen events, like the 1.5 hour delay I was announced when I checked in my luggage. Bummer.

It was a great occasion to start the Stillman & Birn sketchbook I got from Stephanie Bower, though. My goal was to fill it during my vacation, so with so much time on my hands, I started with scenes from the airport.

I don't know about other sketchers, but the first few drawings in a new sketchbook are usually a bit disappointing, so I'm only posting a small selection here.

Lines of people checking their phones before boarding the plane

I changed seats a couple of times, looking for something or someone interesting to sketch. I ended up sitting in front of an elderly French couple who were very conveniently distracted by their book and phone.

He had a very sketchable face

Below you can see their feet. I love making the occasional sketch of what I see when I look down.

Like my new trousers?

I used to prefer to sit by the window on the plane, but lately I have realised that the "sketchable view" is actually less interesting there. This time I was sitting by the alley, with a great view of a man playing Tetris. 

As I was sketching him, I kept looking at his game and feeling gradually nervous for him. He kept arriving perilously close to losing, but then always seemed to manage to get back at a safer level.

I was almost as engrossed in watching him play as I was in sketching him. I never thought it could be interesting to watch someone else play Tetris.

His Tetris skills were impressive

When I arrived in Lisbon, I had the luxury of finding my family waiting for me to take me to our second home. Here is a sketch of the back view of the house, the one in the patio.

The ghosts of laundries past

My mother chose to hang the laundry halfway through my sketch, which slightly annoying at first, but a happy accident in the end. Home sweet home indeed.

Sketching sketchers in Strasbourg

One of my favourite things in any USk event is definitely to meet people - old friends and new.

In all, there were around 200 sketchers over the weekend. Plenty of opportunities to socialize and sketch people.

Sketchers are among the best subjects to draw, as they are usually so engrossed in their work that they don't move much, so I was able to catch a few of them in action.

You might think that most of them look slightly grumpy on my sketches. But in reality it's their "in the zone" faces. So actually they're really happy faces.

Denis studying his subject

Georges had wonderfully colourful sketches

Gérard is the master of perspective

Lolo, one of the USk Strasbourg organizers. Can't thank them enough for this amazing weekend!

Dinner at Brasserie de la Bourse was great. I sat at the Luxembourgish table with a few sketchers from Paris (Marion and Christine) and one from the Netherlands (Rene).

If sketchers sketching are great subjects, sketchers eating are much more challenging. As a result you get funny looking portraits.

That floating partial face is supposed to be Tula, a friend I met in Barcelona :D

Rene, all the way from the Netherlands

Great food and great fun all around. The most difficult part, as usual, was to say goodbye.

Looking forward to the next USk event!

Easter impressions

To me, Easter celebrations mean family gatherings complete with eating lots of food for afternoons on end.

It is also an occasion to look around and see the little things that brighten up the house, like these flowers my mother had at home and whose colour just screams Easter to me.

Yellows, oranges, light greens ; friendly colours.

It is the time when my brother and I got spoiled with a cute chocolate bunny. Getting spoiled like this by your mother never gets old.

It was almost a pity to eat it. Almost.

Like most years, Easter is also the occasion to see parts of the family again. This year was no different, as I was invited for long lunches at at by mother's cousin on Sunday and by one of my cousins on Monday (Easter Monday is also a free day here, lucky us).

The biggest surpise is always to see how much the children have changed since the last time I saw them.

I have a 5-year old cousin, one of the sweetest little boys you could meet. This portrait isn't really flattering nor is it accurate, but it was the best I could do with a subject that has a portrait thwarting super sense or something like that.

How else can you explain that this fidgety boy would decide to scratch his nose, rub his eyes, bite his lip at the exact times when I got to those parts of the portrait?

Signed by the spoilsport himself.

My first "commission"

A couple of weeks ago I was given my first sort of commission.

I say "sort of" because I didn't actually get paid for it.

I did it as a favour for a friend who is preparing a surprise for her boyfriend.

She is compiling a book with poems he has written and wanted to include a portrait of him.

Apparently she had seen and liked my latest drawings on FB, so she asked me.

I haven't met him yet, but he looks like a very kind person.

It's time for 2013 to get some rest

In a few hours, this year will be over. Already!

It's been very eventful and positive for me. I haven't seen time pass.

Now let's put 2013 to sleep and hope 2014 will be just as good.

This is how my Dad watches TV

Have a glood slide into the new year, as we say around here. Gudde Rutsch am neie Joer!

Merry Christmas!

This jolly Santa was in the newspaper today.

When I saw him I could just imagine his booming laughter :)

Ho! Ho! Ho!

 

People on the bus

I really love sketching people in public transportation.

Even when they're not doing anything in particular, they are so absorbed in their thoughts that I can study them at leasure.

I tend to have more difficulties drawing men than women. It might not look like it, but this man is no exception. Although he was not a bad-looking guy at all, I made him much more handsome than he actually was.

Italian elegance distracted me

I was attracted to this girl because it looked like she was completely out of it, looking at the ceiling and smiling as if she was seeing someone she knew. I even wondered if she wasn't on drugs...

Seeing angels

I liked this woman's hair for some reason.

Loved the nose, too!

This lady looked so warm in her winter clothes and was delightfully absorbed in her book. She didn't move at all.

The hairdo was interesting to sketch as well

How could I resist this nose? Just beautiful!

Now I see him quite often. I'll have to sketch him again.

I was sitting face to face with a teenager, completely engrossed in a game. The movement of his hands was fascinating.

Fast thumb movements will lead you to victory!

Of all the people inside a bus, there are always quite a few on the phone. I liked this woman's posture. Plus the fact that her neighbour was on the phone as well. The rest was a matter of being stuck in a traffic jam.

Traffic jams rule!

I think she was Russian...

The first thing that attracted me to this person was the huge fuzzy pom-pom attached to her hat.

The second thing was her long orange-brown hair.

And then there were her long mascara-laden eye-lashes.

That's probably why she doesn't look like a teenage girl in my sketch anymore.

It's not clear from the sketch, but I absolutely loved the pom-pom!

This is a post for Portraits without mercy. Check out that fun blog!

On the bus

As the weather is getting colder, there are less occasions for me to draw outside.

Luckily there is public transport.

And drawing people is always interesting.

Deep in thought

Deep in sleep

Deep in study

Sleepers on the bus

Careful not to sleep in the bus when I'm around !

Peaceful sleeper

Very dapper sleeper

On the merit of waiting rooms

I used to hate being stuck in waiting rooms, specially when waiting for a doctor's appointment.

However, now that I have a sketchbook with me almost at all times, I don't mind them so much anymore.

They have become a great opportunity to sketch.

For example, sketching people is definitely more interesting than reading silly people magazines.

Otherwise, when alone in the room, the outside view can be more alluring. For this sketch, I only had time for the outline. I did the colour at home.

Photomeetings Luxembourg - impressions

Photomeetings Luxembourg has started this week until the 19th.

It is a great occasion to discover the work and hear the insights of well-known photographers.

These last three days I was able to attend conferences held by Roger Ballen, Isabel Muñoz and Massimo Vitali.

Here are some of their comments.

Roger Ballen

Roger Ballen appeared quite gloomy to me. Very dark and meticulous with a dark sense of humour.

Isabel Muñoz

Isabel Muñoz is a true humanist, in my definition of the term. Very caring and loving. And more essentially, someone who loves and is fascinated by humanity in all its manifestations.

Massimo Vitali

Massimo Vitali seems very technically rigorous. It was interesting to hear his opinions on the place of photography in the art scene.

These lectures allowed me not only to discover these artists' work, but also to understand it in a different level.

It became very clear to me that each one of these photographers' work reflects their personality and beliefs. It may sound like a very obvious thing to say, but now it feels like I can see them when I look at their photographs.

Drawing People in Action: A Character Sketching Crash Course - with Marc Taro Holmes

I love drawing people. I actually think that I'm much better at it than at drawing buildings.

However, I am still stuck at making portraits, so Marc Taro Holmes' workshop on  how to draw people in action was absolutely fantastic.

Check out this link for a more detailed description of the lesson.

Standing in the middle of La Rambla, trying to sketch people as fast as possible was very challenging, specially in the beginning when still warming up.

However, gradually it stopped being stressful and started being just a lot of fun.

Marc had us first use a pencil to draw very general lines of our subjects and only later add ink and details.

People coming towards us : quick, there's no time to overthink it!

The last exercise consisted in choosing people doing one activity and sketching that, starting with pencil, then ink and finally adding colour. I chose these ice cream sellers.

Girls selling ice cream on La Rambla

The important thing I learned from Marc Holmes was that when sketching an event or action, I should focus on the action as such first and add details later - even if those details are taken from a different person. It's the action that counts.

I haven't practised this since I came back from Barcelona, but it's definitely an exercise I wish to repeat and improve on.